


Phases of the Moon

by theweddingofthefoxes



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Fingering, First Time With Same Sex, Modern AU, Mutual Pining, but also kind of not??, leia and han are separated, the absolute opposite of slow burn this one moves Fast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 02:52:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19098280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweddingofthefoxes/pseuds/theweddingofthefoxes
Summary: Leia and her old college roommate Amilyn have been friends for decades -- and their friendship has only grown stronger in the midst everything that life has thrown at them. But after Leia's son Ben leaves for college, the two of them are both interested in being more than friends.





	Phases of the Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valda/gifts).



“I’ll call you every day,” Ben had lied, but that was only to be expected. He meant well. Especially since he knew that, now that he was out of the house, Leia would be there totally alone. When he’d said that she had scoffed, pulling a face.

“Yeah, and I’ll get elected president next year.” She was helping him pack clothes, and when they sat down together to do it, it was easier to pretend he didn’t tower over her like he had since he was thirteen. “Listen, you’re very kind to say so, but I’m not exactly going to be sitting by the phone all day hoping you’ll call. I have a life.”

“Well, I can. Try.”

He was apologetic when he did call. He sounded a lot like Han, over the phone. That was to be expected too. It wasn’t like Leia had been as responsible as she had pretended to be, back when she was that age. When she was nineteen and her roommate Amilyn was twenty, they had disappeared for forty-eight hours, eschewing all classes, extracurriculars, and communication with anybody else, and went to a casino where they promptly won six hundred dollars on the very first slot machine they had gone to, one that was designed to look like a soldier’s wall in a WWII bunk, decorated with grinning and pouting pinup girls. What they didn’t immediately lose they had spent on an extravagant dinner that they ate in Amilyn’s car, licking one another’s fingers and cackling with laughter. It had been worth the trouble they’d gotten into later.

What the hell was she supposed to tell Ben, now that the shoe was on the other foot? It was fine if he wanted to run around for a while, as long as he wasn’t hurting anybody or making a total ass of himself. 

“So what are you doing these days?” Ben wanted to know.

“Working, mostly.”

“Nothing new, then.”

“Enjoying some peace and quiet.”

“Have you ever enjoyed peace and quiet?”

“Even I crave it, every now and then. Like wanting olives occasionally.”

That was the long and the short of it, though it seemed as though when you spoke of the devil, she did in fact appear. She hadn’t heard from Amilyn for a few months, but lo and behold, there was an email from her in Leia’s inbox that morning that she had been thinking about their exploits in the old days. Something about a house that she had purchased, she’d sold one of her businesses -- one of them -- and had apparently had some kind of revelation, one of those Eat Pray Love kinds of things. She was tired of living like a horse strapped to a cart, she was going to have some fun. Life had gotten considerably less fun at times since their casino adventure. Not always. But at times, for stretches of time--

If I know you like I know I do, Amilyn had written, you have considerable vacation time racked up. Maybe I can’t make you quit, but you can come stay with me for a week or two.

What better time was there than now? It was like Amilyn just knew what Leia needed. As always. The year they’d lived together was the least stressful time in Leia’s life, if she was being honest with herself. When Leia’s parents had died, Amilyn was living five hundred miles away, attending graduate school and working full-time, yet she’d still made the time to talk to Leia for hours, had driven across four states to come to the funerals. Then when Ben was born, she’d sent dozens of gifts, had always sent cards with cash for him on his birthday. 

That was love. That, right there.

Han had loved her, of course. Despite everything, there was no doubt that that had been true. But this was a league of its own.

“You ought to marry me,” Amilyn had told her, back in college when they lived together, smiling that cat smile she had. “I’ll take good care of you.”

“You’d get tired of me in a week,” Leia had said. 

But it hadn’t happened yet.

When Leia had told Amilyn that she and Han had decided to separate two years ago, they had stayed on the phone together for close to eight hours. 

That was love too, and it had been on Leia’s mind a lot since she had been living with just Ben. 

Amilyn had gotten busy, really busy especially over this last year. As it turned out, that had been her breaking point, and she had decided to walk away. Now I’m writing, a lot. Just for me. Maybe I’ll try and publish it someday, but I don’t really care about that now. Why does it all have to be wheeling and dealing in life? To hell with that. I’ve never felt better. I really hope you’ll come stay, Leia. 

Leia responded immediately.

My god, does it sound like you’re living the kind of life I always knew you would, once you finally told the bastards what was what. Nobody deserves it like you do. Except maybe me, of course. Yes, of course I’ll come stay with you. If I’m being completely honest, it’s unnerving without anyone here, even if I do enjoy the luxury of not having teenagers coming in and out of the house at all hours of the night. I’ll let you know what dates I’m free and we can go from there.

She read it over once again, then added:

Thank you, really. Your sense of timing is always remarkable. I can’t wait to see you.

* * *

The house that Amilyn had bought wasn’t big, but it was as striking as Amilyn herself. Painted white with burgundy shutters, it sat just up the hill from the lake, looking for all the world like the front of some timeshare brochure, especially with the sun beginning to set over the lake. Leia parked next to the same battered Honda that Amilyn had had forever, suddenly nervous. The last time they’d physically seen one another, Leia had still been playing the woman who had it all -- wife, mother, career woman. Had Amilyn been able to see how tired she had been during that time, how frayed? What would she see now that they were to reunite?

She was so caught up in thinking about all of that, how she might herself be perceived, that it didn’t occur to her to wonder how Amilyn might have changed. When Leia knocked on the door, it was a transformed woman who answered. Her hair was now dyed a lush magenta-violet, and the clothes she was wearing were so much less severe than her Corporate Chic look, the one she had perfected over the last twenty years. Stylish as ever -- that would never change -- but it looked comfortable to sit in. There was a rose quartz the size of a lip balm tube hanging from her neck, and she had gotten her ear cartilage pierced too, with a little silver hoop. 

The last time Leia had wanted to kiss her this badly had been at the casino, when they processed the number of zeros on that six hundred dollar payout. Is this enough to run away together on?

“Look who it is,” Amilyn said, and that was all it took for Leia to drop her duffel bag on the porch and pull her into a hug. “God, I know, right? Last time I saw you was -- ah, never mind, the answer’s only going to depress me.” She squeezed back, just as tight. “Come on, let’s get inside--”

“Out of the beautiful weather as quickly as possible.”

“We’ll sit on the back porch, all right? With a view of the lake instead of mailboxes. Good enough for you, princess?”

That had been a favorite name of Han’s, but he didn’t know Amilyn called her that first.

“I’ll accept it.”

The house itself was minimalistic, the kind of pale outdoorsy-chic that involved a great deal of pale wood and white carpets and nature prints. A painting of a barn owl hung where a TV might have gone in a different home, and above the bed -- it was easy to see into Amilyn’s bedroom as they made their way through the house -- was a series of beaten metal hangings made to look like the various phases of the moon. “Don’t you worry that thing’s gonna fall down in the middle of the night on you?”

“You doubt my ability to use a hammer?”

“You hung it?”

Amilyn laughed. “I’m only kidding. I bought this whole place as-is. It looks a bit like an Airbnb, doesn’t it? Not much personal stuff yet.”

“No TV.”

“In my bedroom, yes.”

“So you expect me to stare at an empty wall in my room, yes?” 

“What, have you become the kind of woman who can’t stand to miss her soaps?”

“The news, Ami, the news!”

“Oh, hush. We’re not watching the news this week.” They were out on the porch by this time, and Amilyn indicated a plush outdoor sofa. Leia sat, but Amilyn remained standing. “If you’re good I’ll get you a newspaper.”

“Yeah, to hit me with.”

“That can be arranged. What would you like to drink?”

By the time Amilyn had returned with pineapple-orange juice and a platter of cheese and crackers, Leia had kicked off her shoes and settled with her legs underneath her, watching the lights of the surrounding other houses shimmer on the lake. 

“There are college students in the house next to us,” she told her host. “I can hear them.” They were probably playing some kind of game, because periodic bursts of laughter would roll out from the east, like approaching thunder.

“They got here two days ago. They must be staying for the week. And here you thought you were free of college students.”

“I don’t have to feed them, and that’s what matters.” 

“On that note, how’s Ben liking college?”

“He seems to like it. He knows better than to flunk, both intellectually and in his soul. I don’t ask too many questions about the rest. God knows I have no room to talk.” 

Amilyn smiled, lifted her glass of juice in the barest motion of a toast. “Maybe he’ll even make himself a nice pot of cash at a casino, huh?”

“And spend it all on textbooks, of course.”

“Just like we did, right?”

Leia had to laugh. 

“You got a casino anywhere around here, Ami?”

“I’ve got enough money for all the dinners you want.” Amilyn’s eyes sparkled. “Though I suspect the cash itself is less exciting than the _winning_.”

There was a long, pleasant pause as they both helped themselves to cheese and crackers. Sure enough, the sound of the college students laughing shook their corner of the lake after a moment or two. Then Leia answered. “In college you can get up and run if you want to.”

“Bullshit.” 

Leia cocked her head. 

“I mean, you sort of can. You can indulge in any phase you’re into at the moment, but the expectations keep you coming back. Now? Now you can _really_ get up and run, if that’s what you want. That’s been my experience, anyway.”

Any phase. Leia felt her breath come light and shallow. “I suppose the perfect housewife phase has come and gone, hasn’t it?”

“You were pretty damn good at it. And now look. Your kid’s in one of the best schools in the country. So what phase comes next?.”

“You brought me here,” Leia said. “You tell me.”

From next door, a chorus of groans and snickers, and Leia had the most absurd feeling that they were like a studio audience watching the wrong show. She snapped the corner off one of the Saltines, waiting. “Oh, don’t say that, now,” Amilyn answered, her voice airy. “That’s not up to me. It’s your turn.”

Very well. If Amilyn would hand her the wheel, Leia intended to drive as hard and fast as she could. 

“Are you seeing anyone, Ami?”

If the question caught Amilyn off guard, she made absolutely no show of it. She parried back, effortless, “If I were, would she let me spirit you away for a whole week like this?”

“Let’s get real, you wouldn’t date anyone who wouldn’t ‘let’ you do anything.”

Amilyn grinned. “And you think I’d hide that information from you? Risk your wrath? Maybe you’d shout at me, raise your voice.” She drained the last of the juice from her cup and set it aside. “God forbid those college kids should hear it. They’re probably exactly Ben’s age, too.”

“You’ve always said you like me firey.” Leia felt rather like a college kid herself, her heart was just beating that fast. That comment had only served to make her want Amilyn even more; Amilyn who didn’t give a fuck that she was old enough to have an adult child, Amilyn who had only become more alluring over the years, had only become more mature and stable and more of a rock to rest upon. Forty-three and Amilyn was the most beautiful woman in the entire world. “You’ve been telling me that since I was nineteen.”

“It’s been true since you were nineteen.” Amilyn was moving the cheese and crackers out of the way, smoothly blocking the scene that Leia was absolutely certain was going to play out, now, and she felt pleasantly cold -- like she had leapt right into the lake. “Do you know what else I like about you?”

“Tell me,” Leia said, and her voice was low.

“You’re impatient.”

That was all Leia needed to hear. To hell with the kids next door, to hell with Han, to hell with all of it -- she leaned directly into the space that Amilyn had cleared free for her, raising up on her knees to meet Amilyn’s mouth for a kiss that tasted exactly like Leia had imagined it would all those years ago when they had been introduced as roommates. How had they never kissed before? It seemed bizarre, considering how intimate they had been for years, intimate in ways that girls can pass off as merely being cuddly, as gals being pals: sleeping in the same bed, hanging out in the room in various states of undress, vividly describing sexual preferences and fantasies. Amilyn was not particularly interested in taking any male lovers herself, but she had been happy to get Leia to dish on all of her exploits with Han as soon as he entered the picture; in exchange, she had regaled Leia with stories of girls she was dating. 

“I’m not impatient,” Leia insisted, breathless. “I’ve been waiting for years.”

Amilyn stood, abruptly, and for a searing moment Leia worried she had said something upsetting, something that would pull Amilyn out of the moment so quickly, but -- no, Ami was smiling, looking like a tigress with a meaty kill. “I think we should go inside.”

“You really do think those kids will hear something.” 

“Oh, they’re going to hear something no matter what,” Amilyn said, extending her hand to help Leia up. “Come on.”

“Now who’s impatient?”

Leia’s duffel bag was still sitting neatly on the sofa, and Amilyn grabbed it as they made the trek back into the house, carried it with her into the bedroom. “So what you’re saying is I _will_ get to watch the news?” Leia called, hardly able to keep up with Amilyn’s long strides. 

“Is that all you can think about?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know what I’m thinking about?”

Amilyn laughed, tossed the bag onto the reading chair that sat in the corner opposite the door. “I won’t revoke access to the guest room upstairs, if you want it. Maybe you got used to being able to hog the blankets, and there’s a bathroom just for you there too. But this all feels rather like a sleepover, doesn’t it?”

“Almost like you planned it that way, huh?”

“Hey, you’re the one who kissed _me_.” Amilyn stood, looking suddenly a bit serious, and bit her lip as she gathered her thoughts. “You can--change your mind. If you’d like. At any point. You’ve only been here an hour, you can...”

“I’ve thought about this for so long. I’m not passing up this opportunity now.” Leia stepped closer. She had to look up to meet Amilyn’s eye, which was maddeningly attractive to her too. “As far as I’m concerned, that was an hour not spent -- appreciating you. The way I’ve always wanted to.”

“You have made me feel appreciated. Always. But I bet you can make me feel even more appreciated.”

Now it was Leia’s turn to hesitate. She reached up and rested her hands on Amilyn’s shoulders, squeezing softly. “Not to trot out the standard porn line, but...I really haven’t been with a woman before.”

Amilyn laughed. “Oh, that? Don’t worry about that. It’s like being with a man, except you come.”

“You are _awful_ ,” Leia cackled, leaning in to rest her head on Amilyn’s chest. 

“But am I wrong?”

“Partially. Maybe. I don’t know! I came a time or two with Han.”

“Bet I can beat that record tonight.” Amilyn didn’t seem to mind the reference to Han. She wrapped her own arms around Leia so they were hugging for real now. “Wanna see me try?”

“And what about you?”

“Do you not think you can? The Leia that I know savors a challenge. You’re not gonna disappoint me, princess, that I can promise you now.” 

She leaned in close and Leia was certain they were going to kiss again, but instead Amilyn moved to the side to whisper in Leia’s ear: “Get on the bed.”

Leia didn’t need to be told twice. She hopped up onto the mattress -- the bed was made, but in a rumpled, hurried kind of way, as if Amilyn had only just remembered to do it minutes before Leia got there -- and watched, unable to hide her adoration, as Amilyn kicked off her pants, shrugged off her blouse and then worked her hands behind her like a master escape artist, loosening her bra hooks. She grinned, toothy, watching Leia watch her. “Waiting your turn?”

“I’d rather you undress me.”

“You really are a princess, aren’t you?”

Of course Amilyn complied, climbing up behind her in only her panties, settling with her legs on either side of Leia’s. “God,” she murmured, again right in Leia’s ear, as she unbuttoned Leia’s shirt from behind, not even needing to look, interrupting herself to touch Leia’s arms and stomach and the back of her neck, to rake her fingers through Leia’s hair. “Part of me wasn’t sure if you’d be so -- agreeable to all this. Which would have been okay, you know, just getting to see you is...I love it. But part of me _knew_ to go for it. I just knew.”

Leia leaned back in Ami’s arms, thrumming, ready. “Go for it,” she repeated. “Yes. I want you to go for it.”

“That’s my girl,” Amilyn said, and then she was kissing Leia’s neck, sending a wild fall of sparks through Leia’s whole body, pulling the last of the buttons free and then sliding the shirt off with short, easy, graceful motions -- no bra, Leia never wore them when she knew she could get away without -- then pushing Leia’s skirt up to get at her underwear. _None too patient yourself_ , Leia wanted to tell her, but talking wasn’t going to happen right that moment. It was all she could do to keep from grinding right into Amilyn’s hand as she pulled at Leia’s panties, and she kicked them free, down onto the floor, once Amilyn had gotten them down far enough. 

“God,” Leia managed, and Amilyn kissed her neck harder, one hand on Leia’s thigh, tracing lazily up her leg, nearly all the way to her pussy, before tracing back down again. The other hand was gently squeezing one breast, her pointer finger nudging the nipple in a way that showed off all of Amilyn’s practice at pleasing women over the years. She made it feel so easy to _melt_ , lean back against her, rolling and needy and pleased, gasping at every tease. 

“Let me-”

“Yes--!”

Why had she ever doubted this for even a single moment? Every brain cell in Leia’s head was present with the throbbing in her body, wanting to be touched more, even more, probably there would be no way to truly touch her enough, and then Amilyn’s finger was inside her, then another, and Leia squirmed where she sat, only vaguely remembering the nearby students that could maybe hear her. Fuck it!

“Leia, Jesus, you’re so wound up, you sound so good, you _feel_ so good,” Amilyn was whispering furiously, not particularly quietly, and her body was so warm, already a little slick with sweat. 

“You wind me up,” Leia gasped, delighted -- she’d been fingered before, yes, but every time before it had felt experimental, inexperienced, not like this. Amilyn knew how to do this right. “God, I’m--”

She couldn’t even articulate what she was, not when Amilyn picked up the pace, curled her fingers in a little harder, and she had to use one hand to steady herself against Amilyn’s thigh. The other one she placed atop the hand that Amilyn was still using to cup her breast, as if guiding her, even though Amilyn definitely knew what she wanted and Leia knew she wanted the very same. There was a faint sound from the other side of the room that Leia registered, after a moment, as her phone buzzing from inside her bag, but she wasn’t going to worry about that right now. 

“When’s the last time you got yourself off?” Amilyn wanted to know.

“Last night.”

“So recent?”

Leia was panting. “Yes. Of course. I like fucking, Ami, of course it was so recent --”

“That’s,” Amilyn paused, but didn’t stop fingering her, and Leia didn’t stop squirming. “I love that. Thinking about that.” She was breathing hard too. “Not that I haven’t imagined it before.”

“You can watch me sometime -- mm!”

“Did you bring a vibrator?”

“Not this time.”

“We’ll go shopping.”

“Will we?”

“Tomorrow, if you’d like. You’d be a natural with a strap-on.”

“Yeah?” The feeling was mounting, the feeling of want-want-wanting to come, of knowing the prize was within reach now. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely.” Amilyn’s voice was so confident, even when it was ragged with lust, exertion. “We’ll find you a good one, we’ll both pick it out, and then tomorrow you can fuck me senseless -- but right now all I want to do is get you to come--”

Whether she had timed it out just right or it was merely coincidence, she didn’t have to wait too long to make good on her promise. It was just all so right, the touching, the planning, the adrenaline of making good on a decades-old fantasy -- all perfect. If the kids next door didn’t hear her now, it would be a miracle. 

“Did you like it?” Amilyn wanted to know, after giving Leia lots of time to catch her breath, which she really did need, she was almost dizzy now. She snorted.

“No, I was just making really loud orgasm noises because I was bored.”

“Hey, now. I like getting an honest review of my work.”

“You want compliments, which frankly you deserve. I think you sucked out my soul.”

“Honey, if you’re after sucking, just you wait.”

They both laughed. Leia finally tore herself away from Amilyn’s lovely heat, loving the way Amilyn’s eyes tracked her every step as she walked naked to the other side of the room.

“And where are you off to, princess?”

“Allow me to silence my phone so it doesn’t bother us anymore. Oh-- that was Ben who texted me. Gimme a sec.”

The text read: _Hey, just making sure you got to Amilyn’s okay. I’ll call you tomorrow probably_.

She wrote back: _Thanks for checking. I’m here and safe and happy. I’ll say hello to Ami for you._

Then she tossed her phone back onto the duffel bag and rolled back onto the bed, rolled until she was back up against Amilyn, snuggled tight as a tick. “Is he all right?” 

“He’s all right.”

“Think he’s having fun?”

“He better be.”

“He have a good roommate?”

“His roommate seems like a prick. But he’s cute.”

“Bet that’s what your folks thought about me.”

“Never!”

They laughed about that too, and then Amilyn rolled Leia onto her back, both of them still grinning, and she asked, “So what’s next?

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for the lovely Valda, who asked for Amileia! This was a lot of fun to write, and went deeper than I expected. Enjoy!


End file.
